100 years later, we still have power, right to change 16th Amendment

By Dave Armstrong
for The News-Sentinel

Friday, February 8, 2013 - 12:01 am

Feb. 3, 2013, was just another day of life in America. Many were excited about the Super Bowl. It was also a day to celebrate “The Super Tax.” It was the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 16th Amendment.

Isn’t it great we still have some choices? Our Founding Fathers got it right — Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, states’ rights, one person-one vote. To protect our individual liberties, they wrote in the Constitution, Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4: “No Capitation or other direct tax shall be laid,” which means “No tax on people.”

Unfortunately, the 16th nullified 1.9.4. with these 30 words: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on income, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”

Over the last 100 years our tax code (resulting from the 16th) grew from the original 400-page flat tax to the current 73,608-page confusing tax code of graduated tax rates and special deductions so complicated it would make Karl Marx proud. The 16th gave Congress not only the power to tax income but also the power to regulate citizens without state involvement. It removed states as protector of citizens and created a tool to manipulate and control individual success and behavior. The tax code encourages tax evasion, tax shelters and grows the underground economy. Sen. Barry Goldwater said, “The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government.”

The 16th Amendment is the biggest blank check given to the federal government. It is the official declaration of class warfare in America and the root cause of our political/fiscal troubles today. Politicians use the tax code to pick winners and losers. American businesses pay the world’s highest tax rates. U.S. businesses have become less competitive globally, causing trillions of dollars and millions of jobs to be moved offshore. One hundred years ago, the 16th Amendment opened the gates to the eventual destruction of personal liberties in America.

Have you had enough? Have you given up hope in a politically divided Washington ever resolving this unfair tyrannical tax system? Are you tired of the bickering and finger-pointing? Do you want the 16th Amendment, income tax and the IRS to go away? Do you want your freedoms back? These are the feelings our forefathers had toward the taxes forced on them by the British, and the reason they revolted.

We the people have the power and the constitutional right to change this. There is a nonpartisan solution developed by businessmen and economists, backed by extensive research, to be the best way for our nation to raise revenue without regulating, plus be fair to all Americans: HR.25/S.122 – The FairTax Act.

Dave Armstrong is Indiana state director for FairTax (www.fairtax.org, www.fairtaxnation.com or www.fairtaxdave.com).